Embark | h.s

Explanations

In this passage, you will find my thoughts and reasonings behind characters and plot points.

Celia and Harry's relationship is complex. They are two very different people coming from very different backgrounds who are thrown together by misfortune, resulting in a whim of lust that ultimately decided their fate. This is something I had to bear in mind while writing the sequel, as their actions have a major effect on their dynamic.

In the first book, Capsize, they were so blinded by their attraction that they labeled it as love (although I do believe their feelings developed into love as time progressed), which became the hardest obstacle for them to overcome in the sequel. Celia was young in the first book, and even though she claimed to be so much wiser than Beatrice, I think she was just as naive and romantic deep down, which is partially why she married Harry, plus the prevention of social rejection for becoming pregnant out of wedlock, of course. Harry, on the other hand, was a bastard himself and knew the hardships that it brought upon a child to be born out of wedlock. This, combined with his young infatuation with Celia, is the reason that he proposed.

Embark focused a lot on their relationship and the obstacles that their rushed marriage brought them. For those of my readers who were shocked by their proclamation of love so early on in Capsize, this is the result. They didn't know each other very well; all they knew is that they loved each other—or, at least, cared for each other very much. Again, they are both very different in the way that they view life. Celia knew the roles of a wife, while I think Harry didn't quite agree with the family dynamic of back then. He was a dreamer and an explorer, the opposite of Celia and what she wanted.

Onto the antagonists. Originally, I had intended for Elizabeth to have feelings for Harry, because what sparked the idea for Capsize was the story of Elizabeth Throckmorton and Sir Walter Raleigh (a lady in waiting to the Queen who had an affair with Raleigh after knowing that the Queen had feelings for him, eventually resulting in a secret marriage to conceal the fact that she had been pregnant out of wedlock). My story of Harry and Celia is almost the same, despite some details, and how they lost the Queen's favor. But I decided to throw out the idea of Elizabeth falling for Harry and, instead, wanted her to envy Celia's freedom to love whomever she chose (Harry). I do believe that, at first, she sympathized with Celia and her loneliness, so she truly thought of her as a friend. Upon learning of her betrayal, of course she was upset, but I think that the extreme of locking them in the Tower of London and banning her from court was something that had to be done in order to set a precedence.

Now that Elizabeth was finally out of the picture in Embark, we are met with some new antagonists: Andrew Tallis (the creepy doctor), and Eleanor White (the young, beautiful daughter of the governor of Roanoke). Andrew is used to drive a wedge between Celia and Harry. His existence is basically for the sole purpose of causing drama, he's not very important. Eleanor, on the other hand, mirrors Beatrice in the sense of her youth and naivety to the world around her. She dreams of love and adventure, and becomes infatuated with Harry, while, at the same time, wanting a friendship with Celia. I don't think she would have ever acted upon pursuing Harry had it not been for her father, John White, who pushed it for his own agenda. It becomes obvious later on that John uses those around him as puppets to create scenarios that benefit himself, which is why he marries Eleanor off to the Croatoan tribe's Chief Manteo. I actually feel bad about Eleanor's ending, as she was just a teenager in search of happiness and her place in the world, but if I was going to make this story have a happy ending, I needed to get my tragedy in somewhere.

In the end, we find our protagonists back home in England. This section of the story begins with a childbirth scene that introduces the second Styles baby, a boy named Walter. We have a reappearance of Beatrice, which I was very excited to write because I do think that she played a large role in Celia's life, and James Berkeley. I loved James' character because he was very true and upfront, something that was uncommon for courtiers during that time. He was a great ally to Celia, so to have him appear at his nephew's birth was heartwarming. Unfortunately, Isabel Wright Berkeley passed away in childbirth only a few months after Celia's departure for America. There's no specific reasoning for this, other than my itch to write a tragedy into the story.

And the big finale, Queen Elizabeth's grand return. I had always had it in mind that Celia and Elizabeth would rekindle their friendship. With a growing, deadly tumor in her stomach, Elizabeth knew that her time was coming to an end, and she wanted to clear the air between herself and Celia. I found those final scenes between them to be one of my favorites, as it shows Elizabeth in a very raw and loving light, which is the opposite of how she was portrayed in Capsize, as a cold and elusive Queen that had to constantly prove her strength and power. I wanted to show that her purpose for being ruthless was not to hurt anyone, but as a husband-less Queen, who many people also saw as being an illegitimate child to Henry VIII with no real claim, she had to fight for her right to the throne.

Cassandra Green's ending is sad, but almost deserving. I am not in any way saying that I would wish abuse on another human being, but she was cruel to Celia and I think not being able to have a child is punishment for the wrongs she did. As for the abuse portion of her outcome, I wanted to shed some light on the horrible way that women were treated during this time period. To men, the sole purpose of a woman was to bear an heir for them. The number of women that were treated horribly because of their inability to produce a child, I imagine, is sky high.

Over all, I thoroughly enjoyed writing these books. I'm obsessed with the Elizabethan time period, along with every other time period, so this was fun to explore. I'm very aware that there are many, many historical inaccuracies within this book, but that's why it's called fiction. I had a lot of fun creating this world and these characters, and I hope that this extra bit helped you understand the purposes behind the choices I made, or if you just liked to see what my opinion was on everything.

If you have any further questions, ask them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them!

Check out my other works if you haven't already:

Ardent - set in Civil War America, h.s
Romeo - set in post WWII America, h.s
The Gray Man - set in Civil War America, h.s

xoxo,
Caroline